Gender-sensitive urban planning: Connections between gender, perception of safety in public space, and environmental design

There is a growing trend among cities around the world to integrate sustainability considerations into their strategic agendas. However, the UN Women's report from 2017-2020 points at persistent gaps in achieving the United Nations' 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5, which aims for gender equality, and SDG 11, which focuses on creating safe, inclusive, and sustainable urban environments. Despite these objectives, the safety and inclusion requirements of women and gender-diverse individuals remain largely unmet. Contemporary urban safety strategies frequently focus on objective risks over subjective safety, thereby failing to acknowledge the substantial influence of perceived safety on individuals' behaviours and their quality of life. This study addresses this research gap by examining the relationship between environmental factors and subjective safety in a medium-sized town in Germany, Bamberg. It investigates the impact of environmental factors on perceptions of safety in the city's public spaces. The methodology will comprise a spatial analysis using virtual mapping of locations that are perceived as unsafe. The findings are intended to inform urban planning practice by identifying gender-specific safety needs and promoting more inclusive and sustainable urban development.